Nairobi National Park

Nairobi Travel Blog

When John picked us up from the youth hostel at daybreak our throats were dry and voices raspy from last night's sampling of the moonshine. He drove to Nairobi National Park where Scott and I were amazed that ten minutes out of the city, animals roamed in the wild. We saw hartebeest, giraffe, zebra,hyena, jackals, and a family of cheetahs all wandering the grasslands. As a British Airways Boeing 747 came in for a landing at nearby Embakasi Airport, we glanced upward to spot not only the airliner but a leopard lounging in a thorn tree. We comprehended why the eastern perimeter of Nairobi sported a chain-link fence.

Seeing the wildlife made Scott and I eager to leave the city and discover Kenya. Besides, partying with John and Stoley had been a strain on our budgets and the math was simple: each five dollars that we spent equaled a day sooner that we would have to go home. We decided to head to the Kenya coast and Stoley offered to drive us to the beaches south of Mombasa.